H&M becomes biggest user of sustainable cotton

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), one of the largest retailers offering high fashion, is the world’s biggest user of sustainable cotton and man-made cellulosic materials, according to a recent report. This has put the Sweden-based firm one step closer towards our goal to only use recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030. H&M group is also the world’s biggest user of sustainably sourced down and one of the biggest users of sustainably sourced wool, revealed the Preferred Fibre Materials Market Report.

Living on a planet with limited natural resources means that the fashion industry will not be able to operate in the same way in the future as it does today. We believe that a business model fueled by sustainable materials that can be reused again and again is the only way to keep fashion sustainable, H&M said in a report.

“The benchmark leaders show a deep commitment to improvement. The data shows that the longer you have been benchmarking, the more you improve, confirming the impact of the programme. These companies recognize the need to step up and truly embed these successes more deeply within their company structures,” said Liesl Truscott, Director of Europe & Materials Strategy. H&M is fully committed to the goal to only use recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030. One of its milestones in this journey is that all cotton should come from sustainable sources by 2020. We are proud to be the world’s biggest users of sustainable cotton – which includes organic, recycled and cotton from the Better Cotton Initiative – and sustainable man-made cellulosic materials, the report added.

“With our yearly and steady increased use of recycled or other sustainably sourced materials, we not only push the demand of widely used materials such as organic cotton, but also influence the scalability of new sustainable materials. We hope to inspire other players in the industry towards a sustainable fashion future,” said Cecilia Brännsten, Environmental Sustainability Manager at H&M group. Looking ahead, the fashion industry of the future will use many different materials than what the company does today. Through the H&M Conscious Exclusive collection, every year H&M group introduces new materials into its assortment to explore the latest innovations.